Fire Emblem: Awakening–Family Matters Part 1
by Blue Sun Studios
Summary: A two-parter about Prince Chrom and Princess Lissa. Sometimes, you love your family a lot more than you think you do, as the two royals soon find out.


_**Date of Beginning: September**_ _**13**_, _**2014**_

_**Author's Introduction Notes: hey there everyone, this is Blue Sun Studios on the air with you all. It sure has been awhile hasn't it? As per course with me, this will be a rather risqué entry. More specifically this two-parter is a fetish fiction and it will not be for everyone (but then again, when are my stories ever for everyone?). Even more specifically, it's for the sect of the Chrom and Lissa fans who are…you know…into these pairings. I have something important to tell you all at the end of the story so please sit tight until the very end if you can. That's enough blabbering from me though, it's about time you read the disclaimer.**_

_**The following is a nonprofit, fan based fiction. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon through Fire Emblem: Awakening are all owned by Intelligent Studios and Nintendo. Please support the official releases. WARNING: this story in its entirety contains content that some viewers (i.e. you) may find inappropriate, offensive, and/or uncomfortable. If you are under the legal age of adulthood, unsure about reading this fiction, or some other third entity that shouldn't be here, I advise you not to not view this. For those of you who are allowed to and are all set to read this, please rate and/or review at your own discretion**_

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><p><em><strong>Fire<strong>_ _**Emblem:**_ _**Awakening**_

_**Family**_ _**Matters**_ _**Part 1**_

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><p>Lissa darted through Ylisstol's palace grounds with a Recover Staff gripped tightly in her hands and ignoring the various glances aimed at her, making a beeline towards her elder brother's chambers. She had just heard about how Chrom had recently engaged an entire nest of Risen all by himself and came back with more than a few grisly trophies from the skirmish. Why the man had refused to request for a medic or even Frederick to tend to him was beyond the princess, shaking her head at her brother's proud and stubborn nature. As she neared the end of a hallway in the building and came closer to her destination, the scent of fresh blood assaulted her nostrils, a clear sign that someone—most likely her brother she thought—was bleeding quite a lot. Stopping at the last door on the left the young girl took a hand and grabbed at the door knob belonging to Chrom's room, silently praying to Naga that he was not in any life-threatening condition.<p>

Slowly turning the knob and cracking the door open, the scent of blood hit her much harder than she expected, an obscene fear creeping up the sage's spine when she also noticed the lack of light in the room aside of a few lit candles. Quietly stepping inside the room and closing the door behind her, the princess turned her head to examine her brother and caught her heart leaping up into her throat when her eyes finally took his form in. His armour and clothing was splattered with blood everywhere and there were horribly deep and jagged gashes in several places, more than a few scorch marks from magic that left the flesh near black and some were still sizzling, looking at his face she could see his features twisted from the pain he was currently and an ugly scar formed itself across his left eye, and she could hear his breathing had become haggard and hoarse while he twitched a top his now bloodstained bed.

"Stupid, _stupid_ Chrom…" Lissa muttered under her breath while looking away from Chrom, never before feeling so scared for him right now and enraged at the same time. _'_Why_…why didn't he get someone—_anyone_—to heal him…to take this pain away from him…'_ she thought while turning her now burning gaze to the prince again, _'and how could _anyone_ so much as let him walk around looking like this?! Where is Emm, Frederick, Robin, or even Marth?! They would never—'_ Lissa's inner rant was stopped dead when she saw her older brother begin to cough up more blood, the anger inside of her momentarily giving way to panic and worry. Rushing to his side she called out to him, "Chrom?! Please, stay with me if you're awake, I'm here to help you!"

"L-Lissa?" the prince weakly croaked while turning his head to see her and slowly opening his eyes. "Is—is that you little sis?" He could barely see her clearly even with his unscarred eye completely open, his vision harshly disoriented from his recent encounter with a horde of Risen, but he could see the horror in Lissa's face as she stared back at him. Chrom hated seeing that look on his sister's beautiful face and he knew he was to blame, recklessly marching out to a Risen nest without anyone else at his side and coming home looking like he had been through Hell and back. "I—"

"No more talking." She quickly said to him, cutting him off. "Save your energy until I'm done alright?" She looked at him; Chrom had the appearance of the most pitiful royal in the world, his remorseful expression coupled with the horrible condition he was in almost had Lissa pitying the man. But even with her worried sick about him her rage wouldn't allow her to feel particularly sorry for him, feeling that he simply reaped what he sowed. Taking her large, golden Recover Staff and holding it above Chrom's head, Lissa began focusing her magical energies and channeled a fair bit of it into the staff causing its blue gemstone to shine a brilliant glow. Blue-colored magical energy began pouring out of the gemstone in the shape of multiple tendrils, each of them reaching into every single one of the prince's injuries and taking root into them. Chrom's wounds began to glow the same color as the tendrils followed by his body taking on a bright blue shimmer; the glow soon faded completely and the tendrils that were implanted inside of him took their leave back into the staff's gemstone.

"There, it's finished," Lissa announced to her brother, her voice currently devoid of emotion except for a growing anger, something Chrom noticed along with her trembling fists. He could feel that he was completely rejuvenated, but he carefully sat up from his bed and made sure not to pull anything or possibly infuriate the girl more.

"…*ahem*, er, thank you Lissa for—_***CRACK***_" He never finished his sentence as he felt a vicious fist strike him straight in his face sending him laying back onto the bed and clutching his now broken and bloody nose. "_Augh!_ _Gods_ _damnit_ Lissa, what did you do—" He never finished that sentence either as he felt hands harshly grip and yank him from his shirt, and his startled eyes were met with Lissa's own fierce ones. He figured that Lissa was pissed at him over this whole ordeal, and he honestly expected her to even hit him, but he didn't think she'd actually punch him.

"_What. Were. You. __**Thinking**__?!"_ the younger sage yelled at the prince, her voice rising in pitch and volume. Lissa continued her rage-induced rant while throttling Chrom in her hands, "You _stupid_, _**stupid**_ dastard! What made you think it was a good idea to walk into some godsforsaken nest of Risen alone?! And _why_ didn't you _call_ for someone to heal you while you sat up in your room _bleeding_ _to_ _death?!_ You could have freaking _died_ godsdamn you!" Tears streaming down her face and getting angrier by the minute she took a moment to catch her breath while Chrom tried to say something, still reeling from the coarse language Lissa just spat at him.

"L-Lissa, I'm sorry, I really am! I—"

"You had _better_ be more than just sorry…" she snarled, venom dripping from every word she spoke. "Do you have _any_ _idea_ how worried sick I was about you when I found out what happened? Didn't you tell me not to put myself in danger like how I was scouting the enemy? And what did you do?" Chrom's eyes widened upon hearing that, the implications behind Lissa telling him this already seeping into his head. _"What. Did. You. Do?"_ she repeated through her teeth, waiting for Chrom to give her an answer.

"I…" he started, staring into her eyes and closed his own in shame, but he worked up some dignity and continued. "I…put myself in unnecessary danger."

"Yes, yes you did. I hope that you're proud of yourself, giving me a heart attack like that." By now Lissa was trembling and her temper was starting to cool down. "I swear to the Gods Chrom if you do this again I'll—" "Lissa, please…" Chrom said, trying to calm down his sister, "I promise you, this will not happen a second time. I can't bear to see my sweet little sister like this. And I know I've said this already but I am truly sorry for causing you so much worry over me…" Chrom knew that he was treading through volatile territory in doing this, but he decided to tell her something she wanted to know. "I remember you asking me why I did not summon for a healer to patch me up, and the reason why I didn't was because…"

"Because…?" Lissa was all ears on this one, not entirely losing her angry edge but calming down significantly. Then, she saw Chrom moving his hands to wipe the tears from under her eyes and he started smiling. He was _smiling_. _'What's he smiling for, I yelled at him for doing something like that and he—'_

"It's because…" Chrom started, "…you're the only one I trust to truly be able to take care of me…' Looking into Lissa's emerald eyes he could tell she was confused, and not losing any amount of his courage he pressed on. "I specifically refused aid from other medics because I don't believe that they'll do a decent job fixing me up. Chances are that they would pour some medicine on me and bandage me up afterwards, or if they did have a healing staff on their person it wouldn't be as efficient as I would have liked, but _you_…" Chrom had his hands take Lissa's into his own when he knew that she had loosened her grip on him. "You're not only good at handling staves and possess a high magical potency, you actually care about me and I know that you would have nothing less than for me to be perfectly okay. Frederick may actually care about me and so would the others I assume, but Frederick is not a healer and neither are the many other Shepherds. Emm would probably be very busy with other matters especially seeing as how we are currently at war with Plegia, and I don't want to trouble her more with other, less important matters."

"But," Lissa spoke up, still not entirely on page with Chrom, "there's Miriel, Ricken, and even Maribelle who are all good with magic, and Miriel's even better than me—"

"As I said Lissa," Chrom interrupted her. "I trust you more than them; I _know_ that Miriel is the best healer we have but I can't count on her as much as I can count on Ricken, Maribelle, or you, in that order. Tell me something Lissa; when you found out about my condition, what was the first thing you did?"

"I-I came running straight here of course," the girl answered. "I wanted to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong with you and see what I could do to help…"

"Alright then, now answer me this question," Chrom told her, "If I told you that I was okay and that I could handle myself after seeing me like that, would you let me be?"

"_No_, _Gods_ no Chrom!"the princess quickly answered, her voice indignant over what she was asked. "If you so much as gotten even a scratch I wouldn't let you go off somewhere and possibly get infected from it. I—" She would have said more had Chrom not placed a single finger over her lips quieting her.

"You see Lissa?" Chrom proudly exclaimed as his smile grew. "You know better than to leave someone injured to run off to gods knows where, that and you personally wouldn't leave me to myself for too long anyways. Next to Frederick, Emm, and even Robin, you know me better than most others and even more than I know myself at times. You all look out for me, but you especially watch out for me the most." Lissa listened to what the man said, and while she came to the conclusion that he was still being a little reckless at least he was honest. And to believe that he explicitly trusted her that much meant quite a deal to her, her anger and worry towards the man now completely disappearing, forgetting about her other question in a heartbeat. "Also…" That's when Chrom got a little nervous like earlier, but now it was more "sheepish/embarrassed nervous" as opposed to "scared/uncertain nervous". "I found that I actually enjoy your company Lissa, so there's that…this isn't exactly the best way for us to spend time with each other, but, it's something…" Looking away from Lissa and giving her a lopsided smile, he swore that his cheeks rose a few degrees. The girl herself could feel her cheeks turn red as well from the display and from the implications Chrom's words meant.

"Wait…you mean you actually enjoy having me around?" she asked him, her heart beginning to soar a little in excitement. "You really mean that Chrom?"

"Yes Lissa, I mean that in all earnestness. While you do have a tendency to get under my skin…" Chrom heard her "hey" him upon hearing that last statement, laughing to himself despite knowing that he could possibly set her off again. "I do understand that I annoy you too, like most siblings would do to each other. Remember what I told you earlier about how you are a joy for the Shepherds?"

"Yeah…" Lissa remembered Chrom's words then, reassuring her that even if she was not as battle capable as the rest or as important as Emmeryn she still played a vital role as the heart of the Shepherds.

"_You make people happy, Lissa. You motivate and inspire them just by your presence. I might instill confidence, but I don't make them happy. And neither would Emmeryn."_

To think that Chrom thought so well of her had the girl smiling widely from ear to ear remembering those words. Chrom really knew how to pick her up from her woes and he looked after her too; he really was a good brother like Stahl once told her, she just couldn't see it until then. She felt Chrom take her hands into his once again and he spoke to her once more.

"You truly are a joy to have around Lissa; there is never a dull moment with you and you always find a way to brighten everyone's day. Along with Robin especially, you care about the wellbeing of others, even your enemies, and you make sure that everyone is in good condition for whatever we do, just like them. And you have a refreshing personality that I find particularly cathartic, and I just love seeing you shine like the ray of sunshine that you are." Chrom replayed the last part of that in his head, finding that he damn near sounded like that dandy Virion. He hoped that Lissa would not take it the wrong way and think of him some hopeless poetic or something.

"…You know Chrom…" Lissa said to him, "That last part sounded like something Virion would say."

"I know that…" the man groaned, annoyed that it seemed like Virion was starting to influence him. Chrom himself got serious though, pushing that thought to the back of his mind as he looked Lissa dead in her eyes. "With all of this being said, you know that I would do anything to make up for giving you such reason to worry so badly over me and to cause you to be so fearful and angry. I hate seeing you like that, even as I know that it's natural to feel that way and that you have every right to be pissed over what I did. I promise you Lissa, never again will I do something that dangerous and reckless. Just say the word, and I'll happily do you a favor without question…er, as long as it's reasonable of course."

At this point, the budding princess couldn't feel mad at her brother anymore and had completely forgiven him with a bright smile, and with a face like his it was hard for her to be mad at him anyways. And it wasn't until now that Lissa had just noticed how handsome Chrom was now that she had a nice long look at him. His face had some smooth features with a warm, creamy complexion, his eyes and hair both beheld a rich and natural blue hue that would take years to imitate by others, his small nose would have been cute looking she was sure had she not punched it earlier, and his lips were definitely kissing material. Heat rose to her face as she figured this being the reason why Chrom was so popular with many women. Naturally, she began imagining what he looked like underneath all of the armour and clothing she never saw him without, picturing a lean body just about laced with rippling muscle that other men would kill to have.

Chrom would be lying if he ever said he didn't find Lissa pretty, and looking at her now she looked as cute as a button. With her hair as gold as the sun and done in cute pigtails, a vibrant and rich skin tone—not that he had anything against darker shades—, bright emerald eyes that just pierced him like a spear in the most soothing way, a face as smooth as a baby's behind, and lips curled into a smile that made him absolutely melt, he couldn't blame any other boy or man for finding Lissa attractive. He couldn't see the rest of her under the sage robe she wore, but he had no doubt that he would like what he'd see underneath. His mind envisioned a smooth, slender body that many women would just die for.

'Wow_, Chrom is just so—'_

'Gods_, Lissa is just so—'_

And that's when they both caught themselves staring at each other longer then they should have, faces turning as red as tomatoes and swiftly averting their eyes from one another with surprised yelps.

"Oh—oh man, I'm so sorry about that Lissa…I didn't mean to…"

"Oh no it's…alright—I mean, I shouldn't have been staring…" Silence took them both as they tried to comprehend what just happened between them and clear up any possible misunderstandings. Before they could do that however they both heard a flurry of various footsteps stampeding from outside Chrom's door. And in a flash the door that separated the chamber from the hallways was knocked down like a domino and Frederick—along with Emmeryn and Robin—came rushing in.

"_Milord!"_ came the frantic call from the knight. He wasted no time closing the distance between them and he began thoroughly inspecting the prince to see if there were any injuries he had on him and nearly freaked when he saw his bloodied broken nose. Emmeryn had done the same running up to the prince's other side and began searching for any bruises or gashes, placing her hand upon Chrom's forehead to check his temperature. He was warm from the lack of cool air flowing in his room, but other than that he was fine. Robin took the liberty of opening the large windows in the room for some air and light, nearly stumbling over Lissa on their way over to it. Lissa felt a tinge of pity for Chrom when Frederick had to bend the former's nose back in place, Emmeryn shortly taking a Heal Staff out to mend it back together. Once that was done the uninvited trio started with their questions while some of the Shepherds had stood just outside the room.

"Are you alright Chrom?" his Exalt sister asked him, her voice carrying obscene worry in it. "You're not bruised under these clothes are you?"

"N-no Emm, I'm fine. Really; Lissa here did a good job of healing me."

"She did?" Turning to Lissa Emmeryn hugged the ever-loving light out of the girl in a tight squeeze. "Oh thank you Lissa for watching out for your brother when I couldn't."

"_You're…welcome…Emm…crushing my ribs here…"_

"*sigh* That is good news to hear…" Frederick stated, but he wasn't finished with the prince yet. "Tell me Milord, what exactly happened to you? You appear as if you were assaulted by wild beasts."

"Oh…well…" Chrom was in no way willing to tell anyone that he had tried to singlehandedly take on a horde of Risen in their nest, but he didn't feel like lying. Well, not necessarily having to lie about everything. "I was…come upon by a horde of Risen—_ambushed_ actually—when I neared their nest on a stroll."

"Good Naga, a Risen _nest_?" Robin incredulously inquired. "How did you survive something like that by yourself?"

"It was mostly Revenants there and they weren't much of a problem. The others and the Entombed however? Worst fight I've ever gotten into in my life. When I came back, Lissa took me to my room to heal me from the wounds, and I swear that if it wasn't for her, Gods knows when I would've gotten help, _if_ I got help."

"That is very fortunate for you indeed to have someone like Lissa making sure that you were alright…" Robin stated, their hazel eyes lighting up a little. Chrom looked at everyone present and figured that he already needed to get away fast before they started bombarding him with questions.

"C'mon Lissa, let's step outside for some fresh air; I'm getting tired of the constant smell of blood in here." Taking a stand from his stained bed, pitying whatever maids got stuck with cleaning up this room and prying Lissa from Emmeryn's hold, he walked past the many Shepherds outside and with a quick order he dismissed them all before they had a chance to bother him.

Once he and Lissa made it out into the courtyard he breathed a fresh breath of morning air and relief that no one followed him out here. "Again Lissa, thank you for everything you do, and for playing along back there. I'm not sure how the others would've reacted had I actually told them why I was near a Risen nest to begin with."

"Yeah, and I'm not sure what I'd have say to get you out of _that_ mess." Lissa was a terrible liar as shown when she Chrom cornered her about her secret scouting missions. Thinking back to before Frederick had barged in, Lissa thought about how she actually found Chrom an attractive man, and he had apparently been ogling her the way she did him. _'Was he really checking me out back there?'_ she thought to herself, a fire beginning to brew in her tummy. _'Does he…like me? I mean, does he _"like" _like me?'_ She initially didn't even think about Chrom feeling for her like that, but from the way he looked into her eyes then, those words he said to her and him meaning them too, now she was nearly beyond a shadow of doubt that he had a thing for her. And thinking about it now, she was pretty sure that she had more than just a little sister crush on the man. He was definitely a nice man, and a charming, handsome one at that in his own way, and now she understood why so many women wanted him. At this moment, _she_ wanted him, hopefully to herself because she did _not_ feel like sharing him. _Maybe_ with Maribelle or maybe with _Emmeryn_ but the princess wanted no other woman to have him. But, there was something else that came to her mind, a few rather disheartening thoughts.

'_Even if I do like him like that, would he like me back? And even if he does, would this really be okay?'_ She had to know the answer, but she wanted to test the waters first by taking Chrom up on his offer. "Say, Chrom," she said, snatching his attention from a hole in a wall Marth slipped through once upon an assassination attempt. "Remember when you said you'd anything to make it up to me for the stint you pulled and made me all mad over?"

"Y-yes, I do, but it has to be within reason of course…" he responded, mentally preparing himself for whatever the princess may request of him. "Why, you have something in mind?"

"Why, yes I do!" she proclaimed while clapping her hands together, a big grin gracing her lips while Chrom began debating if him promising her that was a good idea. Standing up from where she sat and strolling back towards the palace's interior, Lissa spared him one last look before telling him, "Get your wallet ready big brother, because we are going shopping. And I don't want to hear any "ifs" or "buts" either, you got it?" And with that, she disappeared inside, leaving Chrom with a feeling of untold dread creeping into him.

"Oh no, _shopping_…if Lissa is anything like Sumia, she might—_oh Gods no._ Lissa, wait up!" He ran inside after the girl hoping to Naga that she was not particularly fond of blackmailing and that his gold wallet would survive the upcoming ordeal. Unknown to him though, this was merely setting them up for something Lissa had planned for the two of them, and the gold left in his wallet afterwards would be the last thing he'd be thinking about once everything was said and done.

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><p>Chrom found himself and Lissa walking through the streets of Ylisstol, with Lissa herself not showing too much surprise at the going-ons of the various people around them. The prince however was still fairly new to most of this, a trip with the rather noble thief Gaius opening him up to what he's been missing nearly his entire life. He made an oath to himself to get out more often, and Lissa taking him shopping with her was a good opportunity for him to do that. Children playing in the streets, bakers and butchers proudly displaying their goods and occasionally getting some animal visitors, soldiers working together to build more buildings, all of it while not as extravagant as the flaming ham juggling or acrobatic knife fight he saw before was still not something he was used to seeing. Lissa's squeal of delight had brought him out of his sightseeing and staring into a fashion store.<p>

"Oh. My. _Gods_…" she said as she stared right through the windows. "Look at all of these pretty dresses! I wonder if they have any that are my size…"

"Well, I'm certain that they'll tailor one for you if they don't…" Chrom had to look inside the window to get a better view of what Lissa was talking about. Spotting the dresses she gushed about he also saw several tuxedos inside, and a quick look in the glass' reflection told him everything he needed to know about what he currently had on. He had no fashion sense whatsoever. _'Damn, Gaius was right…'_

"This is going to be our first stop." Lissa stated. "Now c'mon bro!" Grabbing a hand of the man the girl darted inside and was greeted with a wide assortment of fashion wear everywhere she looked, eliciting a "whoa" from her. Her brother was also fairly impressed at the sheer amount of clothing they had inside, thinking he and his sisters already had a lot of attires. Lissa looked inside her purse to see if it was possibly enough to get what she wanted; if not, she could at least borrow some gold from Chrom. "Emm did give us all this gold too…"

"That she did, but I wouldn't want to spend it all here on just a few suits and dresses." Chrom didn't spend much gold period unless it had to do with the Shepherds army, and even in those cases he had Robin who was especially strict with the army's finances which kept anyone from spending too much, themselves included. He did see a suit or two that caught his fancy, though he hoped that they didn't cost much. "Let's look around and see what they have."

Keeping Lissa glued to his side Chrom had the pair of them walk around the building to see what else they had to offer for several minutes, though he eventually found that the establishment they were in had virtually nothing but suits and dresses. Then it hit him; Lissa must have picked this place out of the others for some reason. It looked like it was to be a formal occasion, but Lissa could simply be hunting for nice looking outfits. He had to be sure though, just in case a lot of money were to be spent.

"Hey, Lissa?" Lissa turned her head to face Chrom as they walked, his expression not entirely foreboding for the girl but certainly held a level of seriousness meaning he wanted answers. "Is there any particular reason you took us to this specific market? I literally don't see anything in here but formal and semi-formal attire designed for parties and the like."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Well…we're going out to a club," she answered, but kept the true intention to herself. _'I'd like to think of it as our first—and possibly only date…'_ "I want us to look our best for when we get there, so we're stopping here first to pick up something…fancy for the special occasion."

"Ah, a special occasion…wait a minute, you said a "special occasion"…are we celebrating something?"

"After everything's said and done, but the event itself is a _surprise~_; you'll just have to wait and see."

"I see. And will the others be invited to this as well?"

'Heck_ no! I don't want anyone else here to possibly ruin this!'_ "Mmm…no, it'll be just the two of us—you know, like spending _private_, _quality_ time together? Even though we'll end up going to a public establishment."

"Hmmm…oh well." This was definitely new for Chrom, Lissa planning out something special for only the two of them? But while he wondered about the reasoning behind it he ultimately didn't mind, and in fact he was glad it was just him and his little sister spending the day together. He'd have to do this with the others soon he told himself but for now he was content with just Lissa. For whatever reason the prince's thick-headedness had reared its head in the forefront of his mind, never connecting the dots between Lissa's supposed intentions and even the way she talked to him.

"Omigosh, Chrom, look at _this!_" Lissa believed she had found her absolute buy in this place. A long and flowing gown complete with long gloves, ball shoes, and even a small parasol. The best part about the outfit was that it was her colors; white near the very top of the gown and parasol with yellow further downwards and on her gloves, then green took over from around the gown's "knees" and the fingertips of her gloves, and lastly the handle of the parasol and her shoes were entirely green, cementing the entire look quite nicely.

"Heh, what do you know? An entire outfit made just for you," Chrom remarked. "This place must have everything for classy clothing."

"And it's not even expensive either! I am _so_ getting this one!" As she grabbed the whole set Chrom could only smile at seeing how happy Lissa was, and he was secretly also happy that Emmeryn gave them each a generous amount of gold to use for themselves; the dress itself wasn't expensive but he was nervous that _he_ would be the one making all of the payments. "I can just wear this to whatever party I want!—Oh yea, Chrom, that reminds me; haven't you found something that you like yet?"

"Well…I believe I saw two peculiar suits near the front that really caught my eye. I'm thinking of purchasing one of them."

"You better," Lissa told him wagging a finger at him. "Remember, this is a special occasion Chrom and I want us to look our best, so pick something real spiffy 'cause what you've got on right now ain't gonna cut it." As much as he looked forward to this, the man sighed as felt left out of the loop right now; he wasn't sure if this was supposed to be him making it up to his sister or if she was simply looking for an excuse and planned on taking him out anyways. Once they neared the entrance, Chrom found one of the two suits he had been interested in: a sparkled midnight blue blazer with matching slacks, a white shirt underneath it and with a white rose pinned to the left breast of the blazer, white hand gloves, and polished midnight blue tap shoes. He didn't see the other suit around, assuming that someone else bought it, but he didn't care. He now had what he wanted and Lissa's very pleased gaze cemented his choice.

"_Oooh_, now _that_ is a keeper! It is totally you!"

"You really think so Lissa? I've never been one for fashion apparently as Gaius once eloquently put it, _"Try to wear something that doesn't look like it was stolen from a corpse,"_ but it means a lot knowing that you like it much."

"Aw, you're welcome big bro. Now c'mon, let's hurry and get in line already!" Grabbing Chrom's arm again and ignoring his protests about pulling so hard Lissa made a break towards the nearest cashier in the attempt to beat the next person heading there, who had a gaggle of different clothes and would no doubt take forever. Earning a rather nasty look from the woman behind her Lissa managed to cut in front of her and quickly took out her purse to make her purchase. Chrom wouldn't exactly approve of this either but he also had no intention of staying somewhere longer than necessary unless it was home.

"I'll be getting this please." The princess announced, placing her dress set on the counter and Chrom following suit with his own suit.

"And I will be purchasing this." The rather burly and intimidating looking cashier gave the articles' price tags a once over and watched as Chrom and Lissa each took out the appropriate amount of gold. Him biting each of the coins brought a look of confusion to the prince's face.

"_Um, Lissa?"_ Chrom whispered to her. _"Why is he biting the coins?"_

"_I heard that people do that to make sure the gold is real. Fake gold bends easily, so lots of people bite the coins and try to bend them to make sure they're not fake."_

"…_Isn't that bad for health though? What exactly do people make these fake gold coins out of?"_

"_Beats me. Emm said that we've been having a problem with this happening lately and that it's hurting the economy or something like that…"_

"_Huh, well I'm glad that some people are—"_

"You kids 'er all set," came the cashier's voice. "It's nice ta see young'uns payin' with honest coin, especially in dese days."

"Yeah. It's a shame to hear about this happening so much…" Chrom added. "Do many people not have the decency to use real gold anymore?"

"Some people get swindled an' don' find out dey got ripped off until someone checks fer 'em. Now dat's a real crying shame. Ah herd it's takin' a toll on de Exalt tryin' ta curb dis problem wit dis war goin' on an'—not ta sound racist er nothin'—it's usually Plegians pullin' dis malarkey, like dey ain't got de money fer nothin'…dat woman must be workin' real hard ta find a solution fer it…"

"If that's the case then one thing's for certain: Gangrel needs to go."

"Ya dern right mah lad!" the affable man laughed. "Anywho, Ah hope y'all young'uns enjoy dem clothes!"

"We will!" Lissa yelled out to the man as she walked through the store's doors.

"You have a blessed day sir!" Chrom said as he waved to him.

"You too, an' thanks fer stoppin' by!" As the siblings left the shop Chrom thought to himself; he's never heard of people using false gold to get what they wanted and he had no idea that it was such a large problem either. It looks like they all had a lot of reformation work ahead of them. He kept these solemn thoughts to himself and kept going over them until he heard various people murmuring and whispering around him and Lissa as they walked down the street.

"_Wow, look at those two…aren't they just cute together?"_

"_They must be rich or something, look at their clothes…"_

"_Ain't that guy a little too old for the gal?"_

"_Ho man, what I'd give to have that pretty young thing right there…"_

"_Her male friend is really cute, that girl is lucky to have such a stud…"_

"_You wanna bet that one of em's a virgin? My gold's on the lass."_

Chrom had immediately gotten protective of Lissa after hearing several, less tasteful comments about her, with more than a few men expressing their desire to have the sprightly young sage. He would not let these…people…lay so much as a single finger on his junior sibling for any reason, lest they want to lose that finger and possibly more. The various women present weren't even helping matters either, gossiping amongst themselves about him and Lissa as if they were together as a young couple in love. How badly he wanted to just silence all of these people, casting more than a few hateful looks towards anyone who opened their mouth about them. Knowing that Lissa was with him right now and remembering a few words of wisdom Gaius spoke to him once, he kept his rage restrained but with a loose lid over it to let people know not to give him a reason to lash out at them.

"Hey…_Chrom_…" Lissa called to him getting his attention and wrenching him out of his wrathful mood, "we're going to make two more stops before we head off to that club I mentioned, so let's get a move on yeah?" Looking at her older brother in his eyes she was signaling to him that they would do well to speed up their pace, and to her relief he was essentially thinking the same thing.

"Yes, it would be best for us to focus on getting this done sooner, _and keep myself from having to kill some people here, I swear with Naga as my witness…_" That hissed statement that only Lissa could hear had her skin crawling for a short moment; while she was grateful that Chrom was looking out for her like a big brother was expected to, she sincerely hoped that he truly did not harbor an intent to seriously maim anyone that so much as looked at her funny. "So, where is our next destination little sister?" he said aloud for everyone to hear while squeezing her hand a little more as if to emphasize his point about how his sister was strictly off limits and they were not in any sort of relationship, and it worked as people cautiously and gradually got back to what they were originally doing.

"O-our next stop will be a jeweler's store. You think you might want something to ice you up a little for the club?"

"Ice myself? What does that—hold on, you mean add some jewelry to my clothes right?"

"Exactly; people use that phrase to mean "put some nice diamonds on you" but you can use whatever jewelry you want including silver or gold. I heard that watches and eyeglasses are in the now so try to keep an eye out for them."

"Watches and eyeglasses? They're _actually_ _fashionable_?"

"Yes, they are quite fashionable among several nobility. They pretty much make you look more like a distinguished gentleman with the right outfit. Although you wouldn't really think so seeing _Miriel_ wear them like she does would you?"

"No I would _not_," he laughed, acknowledging that their oldest and second most potent sage was not a fashionable person whatsoever. The two siblings walked and talked to each other for a few more yards until a small jeweler's shop came up beside them, and with both the prince and princess still carrying a sizable amount of gold they stepped inside to inspect the wares and stake claims. The interior of the small store was certainly flashy, with various silver, gold, and diamond pieces hanging everywhere amidst the plain white decorum. Chrom was once again surprised at how he thought they had everything and this business proved him wrong for the second time, while Lissa was busy eyeing every little necklace, ring, band, and everything that sparkled brilliantly from the sun's rays. Since this place was much smaller than the last one their previous stop there was sure to be less of a selection to choose from, but this meant that the duo would be finished quicker—or at least Chrom hoped so.

"_Oooh_, look at all of those _huge_ rings over there Chrom!" Lissa ran over to one of the numerous glass stands and began eating up the diamond rings on display like candy, with her brother himself slowly tailing behind her. He could see the way her eyes just lit up when she saw them and her beacon like smile was undeniable now, the sight bringing a smile to his own face. As the princess continued to awe the precious stones on display, Chrom began to think about how he could possibly make this day even more special for her. While he heard that many women loved jewelry (after all, a diamond was a woman's best friend), he figured that Lissa wouldn't want to be showered with them; she wasn't a materialistic person he knew that much, but he felt that she deserved a little more than what others would usually get. His mind soon wondered though; Lissa definitely meant a lot to him, but he was starting to think that maybe he felt more for her than he thought if he was about to go out of his way to spend some money for her.

'_Maybe it's because she's just being herself right now,'_ he thought, and right now she was just being adorable. What he wouldn't do to ensure that she was always sweet and sunny. _'Gods, I could wake up every morning to my beautiful, smiling sister and never grow tired of it…'_ "See anything that catches your fancy?"

"Oh yeah…although I'm not entirely sure if I can afford everything that I might want to buy here. I want a few things for myself 'ya know—I mean, who doesn't? But I'm also getting someone a gift from here too and I still have one more stop to make before we head to the club I mentioned."

"You're buying a gift for someone? Huh…maybe we should see how much gold we have left, because diamonds should be really expensive unless Gaius is lying his arse off…" Taking their wallet and purse out and counting their gold coins, they were both surprised to see that Emmeryn had actually given them much more than they thought. It looked like their exalted sister was in the mood to absolutely spoil them silly even amidst the turmoil that was going on with the Plegian war and the false gold crisis.

"Um, Chrom?" Lissa asked him, her eyes still wide from counting the gold they had. "How much gold do you have right now?" His mind didn't even register what she had said yet, still in disbelief after counting the cash he had, but she persisted to snap him from his slack jawed trance. "Hey, Chrom, _hello?_ What's your gold count?"

"Nine thousand, three hundred, and thirteen gold…"

"Holy cow, _that_ much?! Emm must have really wanted to spoil us, 'cause I have sixteen less gold than you!" While Chrom was still trying to comprehend the possible reason behind this, Lissa took this entire thing in stride, internally beaming at having this much money for what she wanted. _'_Yes!_ Thank you so much sis! Now I can hopefully buy a beautiful ring for…_him_…'_

She turned to face her brother, that clueless and lovable man still staring at the large allowance he had, she wanted to show him just how much she liked—no, how much she _loved_ him. She no longer had any doubt that she had actually fallen in love for Chrom now, her little sister crush blossomed into genuine romantic feelings. Realizing this, it helped explain why she had reacted the way she did over the Risen nest fiasco and why she was being especially nice to him right now, and she believed that from the way she was acting towards him that he should have seen the obvious attraction. But her brother was a dense man it seemed, especially when it came to matters of the heart, very much like her first crush Frederick, but she was certain that it was all real this time and she was bound and determined to not let it go unrequited like poor Cordelia's case. She ultimately had to play this one smart if she wanted the chance to be Chrom's woman or at least retain the kinship they had if all else fails, but she could afford being a little forward with him.

"Oh Chrom~," she said, finally breaking him away from his daze. "I'll be right back; I'm going to talk to the merchant lady about my surprise gift. You can look around and see if you find anything you might like here _m'kay~?_"

"Uh, sure, g-go ahead then." Chrom could have sworn that Lissa was acting especially fond to him than usual—not that she hasn't been much nicer than normal—but this was almost exactly the way Cordelia was around him for some reason he couldn't fathom. From the way she pressed against him with her hands on his chest, to how low her voice was when she spoke to him, her lidded eyes that bore into his own as she looked up at him, and the small peck she gave him on his cheek had his face flushed red and gained more than a few envious stares from other customers. _'She…kissed me…she just _kissed me_ right now. We stopped doing that around the time she turned eight and started screaming about cooties. What's made her want to do that now all of a sudden?'_ Chrom was aware that kissing was often the sign of showing affection, especially when someone really liked the other person. He eventually came to the conclusion that Lissa was simply starting to show her sweeter side around him and he liked it, deciding to hurry on to get some gear instead of standing there like a village idiot. _'I could actually get used to this…heh, you really are something else Lissa…'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Departure Notes: and that concludes the first part of this two-parter (sorry for the earlier typo). Man I feel rusty right now coming back from a lack of practice lately but hey, making sure I do well with my classes and studying to get my driver's permit are pretty high priority. For those of you wondering where the next chapters of my other stories are as a result, well, here's the basic rundown of what's happening: Reawakening is being rewritten due to a lot of things I wanted in there not being written when I wanted to and not being in the right places, Naga Supports is actually being worked on right now, Super Mario: Wicked Games is currently on hiatus until further notice, and I've taken up making a palette separation for Gohan of Hyper Dragonball Z fame (like I did with SSJ Goku before). I am now trying to juggle between different things at once lest I lose my edge or interest in one of those areas (like my ending struggle with art—my frikkin' <strong>_**major**_**—for instance). What this all means is that you may start seeing **__**content from me from here on out, this time more frequent than before or even less frequently than before and that is beyond any shadow of doubt from me. That's pretty much all for now; make sure you keep an eye out for me, this is Blue Sun Studios officially back signing off the air! Peace!**_


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